Biography

If anyone's been in the trance scene longer than Goa Gil, it would be hard to name the person. Gil has been releasing albums since the early '90s, but his love of the region of Goa and its spiritual practices goes back to 1969. That was the year he left San Francisco, which was of course in the middle of its flower child heyday, to travel to the furthest reaches of India. Many people credit the dreadlocked DJ with creating the subgenre Goa trance. Some of the very first Goa Full Moon parties, which are famed among scenesters and travelers the world over, were organized by Gil -- and he continues to organize them even today. His constant companion on- and off-stage is Ariane, a fellow Gil trance pioneer and a renowned African Djembe drummer. As a musical team, Gil and Ariane go under the name the Nommos. Gil is a DJ first, a remixer second. His releases are split between remixes of fellow trance artists and DJ sets from live shows. Many of the albums feature Gil remixing Kode IV, his labelmate on San Francisco record label Ceiba as well as its owner. The first release, Insane, featured him on only two tracks. Gil's first full-length CD, entitled Spiritual Trance, was released on the French label Fairway Records in 1995. Spiritual Trance II followed in 1996. Gil has also released albums on Deck Wizards (England), NMC/Avatar (Israel), Phonokol Records (Israel), and Sony India. He is probably most famous in Israel, which remains a hot spot for trance, and San Francisco, the place where he started his "psychedelic journey" more than 30 years ago. He continues to travel around the world, playing and occasionally throwing parties everywhere from the Marin redwood forests to the crowded cities of the Mediterranean to the Middle Eastern desert. His most recent release was Cyber Baba 2000 (Phonokol Records, August 2000). ~ L. Katz, Rovi